The present invention relates generally to antenna ornaments and more particularly to an aerodynamic antenna ornament having airfoil characteristics to harness airflow from the movement of a vehicle to move the ornament up and down the antenna.
Antenna ornaments have many different uses. They allow people to show support for country, schools, sporting teams, to indicate participation in an activity and to personalize their vehicle by enhancing its stylistic potential. Antenna ornaments can also provide a means for more easily finding or xe2x80x9cspottingxe2x80x9d a particular vehicle when it is parked in a crowded lot. Additionally, antenna ornaments can be used to indicate participation in a caravan such as a funeral procession. More recently many antenna ornaments have been designed for purposes of entertainment and display, such as the recently popular Jack-in-the-Box Jack Heads or Wienerschnitzel Hot Dog Character.
The prior art devices comprise fixed position ornaments that remain at one location on an antenna once attached. The prior art devices commonly comprise a display portion bearing various optically perceived indicia and an attachment portion for securing the ornament to the antenna. The prior art discloses various two and three-dimensional antenna ornaments that employ various mechanisms to secure the display portion to an antenna, such as hooks, straps, slots, and clamps. Various prior art antenna ornaments and attachment devices are disclosed in the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,536 Antenna Clamp by Liming et al., issued Feb. 5, 1991;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,067 Antenna Signal Device by Currie, issued Oct. 2, 1990;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,431 Wind Deflector by Dobosz, issued Oct. 24, 1989;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,820 Ornamental Marker for Vehicle Antennas by Haas, issued Jul. 2, 1985;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,050 Emblematic Article or Medallion by Weller, issued Sep. 1, 1970;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,438 Antenna Accessory for Vehicle Identification by Lee et al., issued Sep. 9, 1997;
U.S. Pat. No. 2,764,122 Flag and Flagstaff Assembly by Irvin, issued Sep. 25, 1956;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,459 Antenna Ornament by Velte, issued May 16, 2000;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,588 Antenna Mounted Identification Marker by Keller et al., issued Jun. 10, 1997;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,795 Antenna Marker Device by Mace, issued Nov. 27, 1990;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,225 Antenna Mounting Device by McCarthy, issued Nov. 5, 1996;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,390 B1 Multi-Purpose Vehicle Ornament by LaVite, issued Mar. 6, 2001;
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 427,179 Automobile Antenna Ornament by Gamble, Jr. et al., issued Jun. 27, 2000.
A problem associated with the prior art antenna ornaments such as banners and pennants is that in order to be properly seen or read they require wind to open them up or expand them to their fully opened displayable position to allow them to be properly seen. However, excessive wind can cause such banners or pennants to flap erratically making them difficult to be read by the casual observer. Furthermore, vehicles are often parked or stopped at lights and stop signs, which renders banners and pennants collapsed and illegible. Another problem associated with the prior art antenna ornaments is they do not move up and down the antenna but are affixed to one location on an antenna.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need in the art for an improved antenna ornament that has an aerodynamic lifting surface to create an aerodynamic wind riding antenna ornament that uses the air currents created by a moving vehicle to allow the device to travel up and down an antenna. Along with overcoming the problems noted above, the present invention provides improved visibility, attractiveness, eye-catching movement, flight characteristics, ease of assembly and attachment to an antenna, and can be inexpensively manufactured.
The present invention specifically addresses and alleviates the above deficiencies associated with the prior art. In this regard, the present invention comprises an improved antenna ornament that is always in the display position and has airfoil characteristics to harness airflow to move up and down an antenna relative to the airflow and corresponding speed of a vehicle that the antenna is attached to.
The aerodynamic wind riding antenna ornament travels up and down the antenna or similar elongated structure of vehicles such as automobiles, boats, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, tricycles and big wheels. The aerodynamic wind riding antenna ornament provides an eye-catching effect by travelling up and down an antenna when wind pushes against the aerodynamic lifting surface. As the wind speed increases the antenna ornament travels up the antenna and will simulate the movement of a snowboarder, surfer, airplane or other action figure. Once the ornament has traveled up the antenna when the wind speed is decreased the ornament will descend down the antenna and again simulate the movement of various action figures. When a vehicle is stationary, such as a parked car, the ornament can provide a means for easily identifying and finding one""s vehicle when parked among other vehicles such as in a crowded parking lot.
It is an object of the present invention to be removably, rotatably and slidably coupled to an antenna to allow the device to travel up and down the antenna. In one embodiment of the present invention, the aerodynamic wind riding antenna ornament is attached to an antenna mast by having a main body with an aperture of sufficient size to slide the device over the antenna tip and attach retaining means near the aperture to reduce the aperture size to a size slightly smaller than the antenna tip but larger than the antenna mast to prevent the ornament from sliding off the top of the antenna while allowing the device to freely travel up and down the antenna mast.
In another embodiment of the present invention the aerodynamic wind riding antenna ornament is removably, rotatably and slidably attached to an antenna mast by having a main body which has a slot leading to the aperture to allow the antenna mast to be directed through the slot to the aperture. Retaining means is attached to the slot near the aperture to retain the antenna mast within the aperture. The retaining means can comprise (1) a spring like clip that allows the aperture width to open to a size larger than the antenna mast and then returns to a closed position maintaining the aperture size smaller than the antenna tip but larger than the antenna mast; (2) a snap on clip that removably snaps onto the main body at a position that reduces the aperture to a size smaller than the antenna tip and larger than the antenna mast; or (3) an ornamental figure removably coupled to the main body, wherein a portion of the ornamental figure is adapted to reduce the aperture width to a size smaller than the width of an enlarged antenna tip and larger than the antenna mast width.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention the aerodynamic wind riding antenna ornament is removably, rotatably and slidably attached to an antenna mast by a connector removably coupled to the main body. The connector can be substantially U-shaped to create an enclosed aperture when coupled to the main body. The aperture being slightly larger than the antenna mast and smaller than the antenna tip to prevent the device from sliding off the top of the antenna.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device that can freely travel down telescoping antennas that have segments with larger mast diameters at the bottom of the antenna than at the top of the antenna. To allow the device to freely travel down telescoping antennas, the aperture is larger at the bottom and smaller at the top. That is the top of the aperture is larger than the antenna mast segments and smaller than the antenna tip and the bottom of the aperture is larger than the antenna mast segments and the antenna tip. The aperture starts at the top and either curves or angles to the larger bottom.
In another embodiment a frustum-shaped tube is coupled to the bottom of the device aligned with the aperture to allow the device to freely travel down telescoping antennas. The frustum-shaped tube has a smaller width at the aperture and increases in size at the bottom of the tube to prevent the device from getting caught up or stuck at the junction of two antenna mast segments of a telescoping antenna.
Another object of the present invention is to allow the device to function properly on antennas where the antenna tip is too small relative to the antenna mast to allow the device to freely travel up and down the antenna. In another embodiment a separate clamp is attached to the antenna near the antenna tip to prevent the device from sliding or flying off the top of the antenna. Additionally, a second clamp can be attached to the antenna mast below the device to restrict the distance along the antenna mast the device can travel. The clamp or clamps can be folding clamshell like clamps that fold around the antenna mast and snap closed to be removably attached to the antenna mast. The clamps can also employ screws or adjustable closing means to removably attach to the antenna mast.
It is a further object of the present invention to have optically perceived indicia on at least a portion of the main body and/or on the ornamental figure, which can be used for advertisement or displaying promotional information. The optically perceived indicia can be eye-catching indicia that generates an image when the antenna ornament is flying through the air.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, various features of embodiments of the invention.